“MS Doesn’t Care”: My Daily Comedy of Errors 

*Events took place June 2025

Do you ever have those days that nothing seems to work right? Like the printer is out of ink, or won’t turn on, and you are out of coffee, and you don’t remember your email password? 

Today has certainly felt like that. Some of the “regular things,” like I ran out of refrigerated energy drinks, and I hadn’t cleaned up the hair in the bathtub from the last time that I shaved my legs.  

Although frustrating, and not the way I wanted to start my day, they were pretty easy to fix. And, truthfully, they were my fault anyway.  

It all came down to priorities, really. Not really today. The last time I shaved my legs, which was so long ago now I couldn’t even tell you when it was, I didn’t rinse the hair down like I usually do. My husband was helping me out of the bath because I was having a hard time, and he (rightfully so) said my safety was the priority, not the hair.  

So, I basically just delayed the task to now when I wanted to shave again. It’s interesting that I wanted to get rid of the old hair in the tub because that felt gross, but I was about to sit in the water with the hair I was actively removing from my body.  

What’s the difference? Psychologically, a lot, for me at least. It reminded me of Freshman year in High School. I think my biology class. Our teacher had us spit into a small paper cup. Then… this is the gross part…  

She asked if anyone would be willing to drink their cup. EWW! The class erupted in disgust. I don’t remember now if anyone was willing to do it, but I bet there were a lot of the boys that threatened to so they could get the flirty screams from the girls.  

That was over 20 years ago, and I have the same feeling. No way in hell will I drink my spit! 

However, swallowing saliva that is in my mouth is perfectly fine. I don’t know why it’s different, but I knew I needed to start my bath with rinsing the old hair away.  

My poor husband has gotten used to me being hairier than he is. Well, I guess I don’t know if he’s used to it. He doesn’t complain about it, and has told me he loves me no matter what.  

Before my MS diagnosis, and even before then when I had symptoms that I didn’t pay close attention to and that didn’t have a name, shaving was not that big of a deal. I would even do it in our tiny shower. I would literally lift my left up on a shelf and try to keep my back from touching the cold tile on the wall behind me.  

Not now.  

The things about showering, that I used to like, make my day so much harder. If I start the day that way, the whole day is hard. And if I try to end my day that way… well I don’t. I usually fall asleep instead because my energy has literally been completely depleted.  

I’m not talking about those super busy days that you did so much running around that when you get into bed you fall right asleep… although I do have those too.  

I’m talking about those normal, or even “lazy” days, and on the couch I can’t even keep my head up, and then I wake up 2 hours later not sure what happened. Sometimes I can fight it, well, sometimes I actually have to fight it.  

MS doesn’t care where I am, what my plans were for the day, or what I need to do. I’m reminded of the commercials for the shingles vaccination. A man with a gravely voice says, “SHINGLES DOESN’T CARE!” when talking about when shingles can pop up, and why the vaccine is so important.  

Well, I’m not sure what the voice would be, but the sentiment translate to MS fatigue as well.   

Today, I woke up, at a reasonable hour… maybe around 7, and I had great plans. I was going to shave in the bath, then wash my hair and body in the shower, then get ready for work. My first client wasn’t until 11, so that seemed like plenty of time.  

I was frustrated that I had to rinse the hair down the drain. The cat, Charlie—she’s very sweet, and I love her—was particularly loud for some reason, just meowing at me. Even climbing onto the stand that goes over the tub to hold drinks and stuff, just to stare at me and meow.  

I usually have no idea what she wants. I pet her, she purrs, but keeps meowing at me. I fed her last night, and made sure she had water. Even now I don’t know what she wanted, but she would not let up! 

Eventually, it was fine. She layed on the board, like she often does when I’m in the bath, even dipping her tail into the water. Haha, it’s so funny to me; she doesn’t seem to mind! 

I used to love baths. I really did. They were relaxing, comforting, almost luxurious. When I was in college I would even write some of my papers from the bath! That was why I got that table in the first place.  

Oh. I remember now. The last bath, when I shaved last. I remember why there was hair in the tub.  

I was struggling for real that day. It was one of the days I took off before our vacation. (read the story here) I wanted to shave, since we were going to the Bahamas, and I didn’t want to be a swimming wolly mammoth. I also had notes to write for work.  

I used to think it was just me that hated writing notes… but the longer I do this job the more I feel like this is a pretty universal dread. A necessary evil if you will.  

In college, the bath almost softened the blow of having to write papers. At least my body could feel good while I spent time I would rather be doing almost anything else. I must have been distracted, or nostalgic, or… maybe just clumsy.  

Then it happened.  

My body did not cooperate with my plans. My foot and legs were shaking as I got in the tub, and I moved the board just enough that the computer fell to a lower wood part. Then I panicked and grabbed it with my hand to keep it from getting wet.  

Well… my hand didn’t work. Instead of grabbing the computer, I just pushed it further into the water. My phone. My drink. Everything tumbled into the bath along with the board. 

A million things went through my head in that moment as I scrambled to get it all out of the water. I struggle to move fast these days, but I did my best. I laid the computer on it’s side after wiping it up.  

I thought of rice… but that’s in the basement, 28 stairs down from me. And my husband was working, so if I went down there, I’d also need to get dressed. That didn’t just feel hard; it felt impossible. 

I did all the things I could think to do, and helplessly watched the computer screen distort. Still not sure this was the “right” choice, but I decided to finish my bath, clean my body, shave (after all… i rarely do this) then I would bring every thing downstairs so I didn’t have to go up and down.  

Eventually my husband came up to visit me, and I had to tell him the terrible thing I did. He’s the ultimate fixer, and jumped to action. He had these little ball things with a sciencey sounding name… clearly I don’t know it, but they suck up moisture.  

He has them for 3d printing filament. He got it all together, and said my computer might be ruined, but he would let me use his. Every time I write, I am reminded how truly wonderful this man is.  

I’ve been told, and I have noticed, that stress can activate MS symptoms. I’ve heard the same about heat. Well… in this moment I was having both effects.  

Once I finished shaving and cleaning up, my legs were numb and tingly up to my knees. When I stood on them, it was like they were going in the opposite direction than I desired. I was like an adult human – baby giraffe combo.  

My husband, did what he’s best at. He held me up. He pushed on my hips so I could stand and stop wobbling like a weebul. I wanted to rinse the hair down the drain.  

Yeah. That’s when he said my safety was the most important. He was right. And now, today, when I had to clean it up… I was more able.  

The rest of my “getting ready,” mission was not the most successful… but I had clothes on. I looked as professional as I could, and I made it into work.  

On the way in, I was feeling a little distracted during my drive. Then my car beeped, and flashed a red light. The flash that screams, ‘You’re going to hit the car in front of you!’ 

Does everyone look behind them when they slam on their brakes… because I do. And I did. I was able to stop with a lot of room (I don’t follow that close) I’m basically an old lady driver. The car behind me though… they had to swerve into the shoulder.  

They missed me too. Just as I was feeling this didn’t make any sense, I saw the cutest German Shepherd running in the shoulder. Tongue out, living his best life. I’m glad everyone was able to stop for him.  

Now, I wish I would’ve opened my door and looked for his owner. I am still not sure where they were. I was worried I was going to be late for my client… that ended up not coming. Neither did the next one.  

During my day at work, the skies literally turned black. I got alerts on my phone about a severe thunderstorm. I heard things starting to go crazy outside. 

My client, who I had just met for the first time asked, “is it going to hail?” I looked outside and pulled up the blinds…  

Yep. hail. Like LOTS of hail. Might break the windows hail.  

Then we looked at each other at the same time and had the same thought. She verbalized it as I was thinking it. “There’s not covered parking here, is there. I hate hail. It’s not like we can move our cars now, and walk in it.” 

She summarized it pretty well. It was a pretty good addition to my day that seemed to just not go right. My car was about a year from the lease ending. There was noting I could do, but I also didn’t want hail damage! 

I could hear my voice in my head say, “radical acceptance. Walk her through it.” So, I did. We had the weirdest intake on record. I’m not sure if I’m glad she had never had therapy before, or if I wished she knew this was not the norm.  

In true blog fashion, I was not sure what I was writing about when I started. I may have found it. Mindfulness. The act of being in the moment, this moment, and trying to allow thoughts and feelings to pull you away.  

Who knows, if I was a little more mindful, maybe I would have a puppy to take care of, and I wouldn’t know that those little ball water thingies turn different colors when they absorb water.